Traywick claimed that his holistic “biohacking” company constructed a DIY “research compound” that was capable of curing HIV, AIDS, and herpes

He was gearing up to provide proof of the cure and launch a compound for diagnostic testing later in 2018.

According to Vice: “Aaron was a passionate visionary. He seemingly never tired as he brought people together to work on some of the most imposing challenges facing humanity,” Roberts said in a statement. “While many in the biohacking scene disagreed with his methods, none of them doubted his intentions. He sought nothing short of a revolution in biomedicine; the democratization of science and the opening of the flood gates for global healing.”

Ascendance Biomedical rose to prominence thanks in part to its workers’ willingness to publicly experiment on themselves.

Traywick once dropped his pants on a conference stage to inject himself with what he said was a potential herpes treatment, and sat next to Roberts as he live-streamed injecting himself with a compound designed to alter his genetic code and cure him of HIV.

But in recent weeks, Traywick — who had no medical background — had lost touch with his colleagues at Ascendance Biomedical.

Disagreements over the company’s direction and philosophical differences over how to best distribute its creations split the small startup.

“We all lost touch with him. It was radio silence,” Stuermer, a researcher, told VICE News, which profiled the company earlier this month. “It was more than four weeks ago."

Stuermer is also hopeful that the scientists who once worked at Ascendance Biomedical will continue their work.

"The future is difficult to predict. He was willing to go where lots of people were afraid to go,” Stuermer said of Traywick.